Milwaukee Bucks Deny Big Screen Proposal: Examination of a Non-Issue

Not every love story deserves a shot at the big screen. Especially not in Milwaukee.

If you live in the Milwaukee area, or have recently visited Yahoo! Sports, you've probably heard that the Milwaukee Bucks were recently approached with a request from a father to have his son, an MP on his way to Iraq, propose to his girlfriend on the big screen during a recent Bucks game.

The Bucks Denied the request, citing a policy that reserves the screen for game-related activities and advertising only. The soldier's father was upset, and told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"What kind of response is that? If it wasn't for all the men and women in the armed forces, we wouldn't have the luxury of going to sporting events and paying all of their high salaries."

I can certainly understand the sentiment. The young men and women of our Armed Forces certainly deserve our gratitude. What really concerns me is the idea that people want to make such a big deal out of it.

Here's the thing: this is a corporate policy. They did not say no because they don't believe in the wars overseas, or because they don't support the troops. They said no because they always say no. According to Milwaukee Bucks spokespeople, it is an issue of embarrassment.

There is, no matter how confident a gentleman is, the chance that a potential fiancee will say no. Not to mention how a woman would feel forced into a proposal in front of a packed stadium.

In this case, I feel that the Bucks are caught in the headlights, if you can excuse the pun. A father went out of his way to cast a bad light on an organization that does great community work, and left them scrambling for a PR fix because one man's son didn't get his way.

If he weren't a soldier, but just a regular young man looking to make a splash with his girlfriend and family, no one would have heard a word about it. But institutions put rules up for a reason, and a gentleman who fights to protect the freedom of a country should understand that principle, if nothing else.

If they honor this request for a proposal, they have to honor every request. This requires extra labor on the staff and technicians, however few and far between they are. There are plenty of ways to propose to a woman that are special, meaningful and can be made public. Making this a public issue makes a family look self-aggrandizing and coddled—even though I am sure they are nothing of the sort.

Word is there are some hookups coming from the team for the soon-to-be newlyweds, but it is unclear if the team will bend and give them their JumboTron moment.

I can only hope this issue doesn't spin completely out of control and can find a happy ending, for everyone's sake.